Without mentors in my life it would be very difficult to grow Bosnia and Herzegovina

Without mentors in my life it would be very

difficult to grow

by Slavko Hadžić, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Mentoring plays a very important part in the development of leaders in the Christian world. It is a principle that Jesus modelled for us by mentoring His disciples.

I became a first-generation believer in my late 20s and mentoring played a crucial part in my spiritual development. I was a potential leader, without any experience, any role model in my family and without any formal Christian education.

It is the same story today for most Christian leaders in Bosnia & Herzegovina and across the Balkans. Often, I was learning from my mistakes and although I completed some formal education later in life, without mentors in my life it would be very difficult to grow.

So, I am aware that if we want to see the Kingdom of God growing in a healthy way, one of the tasks of experienced leaders is to mentor the next generation. Getting intellectual education at seminaries and from the books is definitely good, but far better is if they combine that with input from

more experienced leaders who will be able to advise, support, teach, correct and help them flourish in life and ministry.

Two passions in my ministry are preaching and evangelism. Two years ago, I decided to step down from the role of pastor of a local church to devote myself completely to the task of evangelism and to mentoring preachers and evangelists. With Langham Preaching I am coordinating work in Southern Europe, where our goal is not just to equip preachers with tools and skills for better preaching, but also to encourage them to start preachers’ clubs where younger preachers can be mentored by more experienced ones. I founded the Good News Institute through which I organise evangelistic events, training for evangelism and help to mentor upcoming evangelists.